Vaporeon
The outfit sat snugly around his body. With no mirror to inspect himself in, he turned the TV off and looked at himself in its black screen. His bronzed face was all that poked out from the tightly wound hoodie. Referring to another Nintendo character, he looked like Samus Aran in her Zero suit. It felt strange having just that section of his body covered while the rear portion of his bottom half was left out in the breeze. It wouldn’t be that way for long. Suddenly he felt the onesie squeeze on him more tightly. Its faux fish scales began to creep their way down his lion body, tickling him along the way. The transformation had begun.
Jared was a veteran by this point, having gone through four transformations. However, this was the first time he would be going from a quadrupedal body to a bipedal one. Instead of gaining a large portion of body, he would be losing it. Some trepidation made his stomach clench as he looked over his shoulder to watch the blue Vaporeon skin creep its way down his fur towards his hind legs. Is it gonna hurt? It’s not gonna sever anything, right?
Distracting his concerns was the hoodie melting down his face like liquid tar, his human skin disappearing follicle by follicle until it had all been consumed, ending with the very tip of his nose. Looking back into his TV reflection he saw his cerulean face still harboring some Nubian features. Those quickly began to melt away as the whites of his eyes were poured over by a sinister ink which covered everything to the pupils, leaving his peepers a pair of onyx marbles blacker than the unlit screen he looked at himself in. He regrew another snout once the suit started pulling at his medulla. It was short and stubby, but pronounced enough that he reached up to feel it beneath his fingers. Doing so had him noticing the thin, blue-translucent membranes which stretched between his digits. Looking down he saw the same thing between his toes which were now much daintier than the giant lion mittens they were just a few moments ago.
Jared was officially a vaporeon, but the transformation was not complete. The onesie had yet to consume his lion half, its fishy scales still creeping down its length and reaching the hips. Jared looked over his shoulder and watched that part of him being consumed. As of now there wasn’t any pain, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any. The scales swept down his lion tail, swallowing the brushy tip and finally the toes. It still didn’t hurt. In fact, Jared didn’t feel anything back there. Everything behind his human part, excluding the forelegs, was completely void of sensation as if he’d been paralyzed. Despite the overwhelming numbness he maintained balance on his forelegs while the hindlegs remained upright.
Then it all started to shrink. At the same time his tail began to shorten like a burning fuse into his tailbone the hindlegs did the same, forcing his lion half to sink slowly to the floor. The main body grew skinnier like a deflating balloon. The many great muscles and bones that defined its shape disappeared into the center, reducing that part of his body into nothing more than a long, thick sausage covered in blue fish scales.
At the end of it was a tall, dark blue caudal fin perfectly resembling what Jared would see on a shark. Sharp and dense, it drew closer to Jared as what was once his lion half shrank into a lengthy, muscular vaporeon tail. Its completion was punctuated by a sudden return of sensation which swept through it from hilt to tip, a jolt of feeling so abrupt it made Jared jump a little. The tail performed a dramatic flail upon its induction, audibly whooshing through the air with its prehensile strength. “Whoa,” hooted Jared who had to wrestle control over it. This was much more significant than his lion tail which he’d just lost. It was not only thicker and longer but denser too. Woven inside of it was a highway of dense sinews perfect for propelling Jared through water.
Jared looked back at the TV. He touched his face with his hand. It was moist, roughened by the texture of his many delicate scales. His body was lighter and more limber. Moving his limbs and his tail gave the sensation like they’d just come out of a plaster cast. This body is meant for moving through water, he realized. Moving it through air makes it feel lighter than it is. Jared looked up from himself and saw the apartment still intact around him. It should’ve disappeared the moment he took his attention off it, but here it stood. Outside the sphinx city remained with its great towers and balconies. I can’t stay here. I’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Am I just stuck here like this?
Then he remembered. Turning around he saw the TV remote on the couch cushion. He squatted to pick it up before hitting the power button. The blank screen flickered to life, bringing back that shot of the Pokémon world plus its alluring sounds and smells. A rush of excitement made his chest swell. The image of home was reflected in the dark black pools of his eyes. That’s where I have to go, he thought with instinctual certainty. It’s a portal, a portal home.
With hardly another thought Jared stepped towards the television. The remote thumped hard against the floor when he dropped it. His hands clasped the edges of the TV screen, reintroducing his fingers with the cool outdoors. Jared pulled himself closer. The 2D image grew closer and brighter. He braced for the punch of glass against his nose, but it phased through without error. The screen shimmered over his eyes, and replacing the anime-style forest was a perfectly real, perfectly brilliant swathe of nature where he belonged.
Jared’s eyes went round with wonder as he continued to pull himself inside. His tail climbed up behind him as he got his feet beneath him and stood up to fully immerse himself. Pokémon… They’re real here. I’m one of them. It struck him more sincerely than when he’d turned into a sphinx. Somehow entering a fictional world he’d known about since he was a kid managed to be surreal even after he’d changed realms four times now. Pokémon, magical creatures with magical powers, they shouldn’t be real, and there he was standing amongst them, one of them.
The thought was orgasmic. Jared’s fists clenched, wrenching the tendons in his forearms where the power of a Pokémon surged resolutely. This is fucking awesome! He meant to say it aloud, but what came out was the name of his species. “Vaporeon!” High and squeaky, it sounded like nothing a human would make. He ducked his head and covered his mouth like he’d said something naughty. What the hell was that? His paw came off his mouth to let out another word. Hello, was what he meant to say, but another timid “Vaporeon” was what came instead. Well, looks like I’m going to have to get used to that. Of course, that’s how the Pokémon talked in the show. Am I going to understand other Pokémon? Am I going to understand humans? Are they even in this universe?
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 03 September 2024